Exploiting Macromolecular Design To Optimize the Antibacterial Activity of Alkylated Cationic Oligomers

There is growing interest in synthetic polymers which co-opt the structural features of naturally occurring antimicrobial peptides. However, our understanding of how macromolecular architecture affects antibacterial activity remains limited. To address this, we investigated whether varying architectures of a series of block and statistical co-oligomers influenced antibacterial and hemolytic activity. Cu(0)-mediated polymerization was used to synthesize oligomers constituting 2-(Boc-amino)­ethyl acrylate units and either diethylene glycol ethyl ether acrylate (DEGEEA) or poly­(ethylene glycol) methyl ether acrylate units with varying macromolecular architecture; subsequent deprotection produced primary amine functional oligomers. Further guanylation provided an additional series of antimicrobial candidates. Both chemical composition and macromolecular architecture were shown to affect antimicrobial activity. A broad spectrum antibacterial oligomer (containing guanidine moieties and DEGEEA units) was identified that possessed promising activity (MIC = 2 μg mL–1) toward both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. Bacterial membrane permeabilization was identified as an important contributor to the mechanism of action.